Another fine day ski touring just down the valley from St Veran. The guys had sourced some local knowledge about a nice little day tour that began just a short drive away by the little hamlet of Prats Hauts. It started off up a small track through the forest, where we saw some black squirrels! I never even knew such a creature existed!
The snow was really soft among the trees, but after a stop for some food by a little hut, we broke out onto the open mountainside where the snow was perfect.
There was still no wind and the skies remained quite overcast. The cloud cover was actually quite an advantage as without the direct sunlight, we kept relatively cool for the ascent.
We made it up to the Col at midday and excitedly had some lunch - we were placed on a dramatic ridge line and below us now were huge, wide open snow slopes without a single ski track on them!
Skins off, boots tightened, helmets and goggles adjusted and we were ready to go.
This was the view along the ridge before the descent - there was quite a cornice forming, so we didn't dare get too close to the edge.
The skiing was pure bliss! The snowpack was firm and we sank gently into about 5cm of soft snow as we made turn after turn in the sunlight.
Lower down near the trees, it was a different story. The snow was heavier and much harder to turn in and required a real effort to negotiate.
Gradually the snow cover became more and more patchy and navigating became quite a gamble to avoid having to walk sections.
Where the snows had melted, crocuses had started to appear.
A final few tight turns and some close calls past the last trees saw us back down by the road and we dropped onto the Tarmac just twenty meters from the car.
A brilliant way to celebrate the third anniversary of our wedding party - especially as all but two of the team had been there dancing with us back in 2013...
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